This invention relates to bursters for continuous business forms stationery assemblies. Relevant prior art includes U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,229,631 to Peterson; 3,231,268 to Pine et al; and 3,493,156 to Absler et al.
Increasing labor costs have caused a variety of businesses to seek more automated ways of handling various facets of their operations, including the handling of paper work, payrolls, etc. As a result, there has been a considerable upsurge in the popularity of continuous business forms assemblies by reason of their adaptability to automated equipment.
Typically, continuous business forms assemblies are comprised of one or more elongated webs of paper provided with transverse lines of weakening defining individual form lengths. When the continuous business forms assembly has been substantially processed, as by the imprinting of information thereon, it is frequently desirable to break the assembly down into individual form lengths for distribution, mailing, or the like.
As is well known, a burster is employed for the purpose of separating the assembly into individual form lengths. Bursters commercially available today have generally been acceptable for their intended purpose and this is true of the burster described in the previously identified U.S. patents. However, with the ever-present desire for increased automation, coupled with present-day desires for maintaining safe conditions for an operator of such equipment, there remains a real need for a new and improved bursting apparatus.